93 Del Sol - Dying Starter?

Watch the video. Oddly enough, it happened after adjusting my timing belt. You can feel the resistance when rotating the crank manually with a ratchet.




I'll be pulling the starter out tonight to see what it looks like. The thumping sound is just the ratchet hitting the back of the bumper.

Finally switched to an optical mouse

I hated them for gaming when they first came out, but the Logitech MX518 finally won me over.

It's longer and taller than the MS Intellimice I'm used to using so I had to get a wrist-rest. However, after a week I'm officially mechanical mouse free.

I think my UT3 scores might have actually improved, and I love the extra sensitivity for desktop use.

Best part is, no more cleaning those rollers. :-)

My travel thread

I figured I should write down the places I've visited before I forget. Time can be cruel to your memories.

This is not written in order of preference! I'm not counting places I drove through or flew through.

1. San Francisco, CA
2. Clearwater, FL
3. Pensacola, FL
4. Orlando, FL
5. Point Judith, RI
6. Manhattan, NY
7. Washington, DC
8. Bethesda, MD
9. Pawtuxet, RI
10. Alexandria, VA
11. Harrisburg, PA
12. Hanover, PA
13. Boulder, CO
14. Salt Lake City, UT
15. Weeping Water, NE
16. Las Vegas, NV
17. Niagra Falls, Canada
18. Warner Robins, GA
19. Chicago, IL
20. Paris, France
21. Muenchen, Deutschland
22. Hanau, Deutschland
23. Chiemsee, Deutschland
24. Schwangau, Deutschland
25. Dachau, Deutschland
26. Philadelphia, PA
27. Herndon, VA
28. Chambersburg, PA
29. Dundalk, MD
30. Lancaster, PA
31. Block Island, RI
32. Berkeley Springs, WV
31. Vaihingen, Deutschland
32. Falls Church, VA
33. Frankenthal, Deutschland
34. Oswego, NY
35. Arlington, VA
36. Norfolk, VA
37. Auburn, PA
38. New Freedom, PA
39. York, PA
40. Waikiki, Hawaii

Fixing Internet Explorer 7

IE7 crashed today after I used the reset function in attempt to get RDP working.

The problem is, it will just keep bringing up the runonce page asking you to set your search engine etc every time you open Internet Explorer.

This happened in Windows XP Pro SP3 with all the latest patches thru 7/2009.

Here's the fix:

1. Start -> Run -> regedit.exe
2. Then open HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/Main
3. Create a New DWORD called RunOnceHasShown and give a value of 1
4. Create a New DWORD called RunOnceComplete and give a value of 1
5. Restart Internet Explorer

So much for Microsoft's lame attempt to ruin my workday. ;-)

Windows XP x64 Edition with VMware WS 6.5

So I maxed out my K9N2GM motherboard with 8GB of RAM, and noticed that VMware Workstation 5.5 wouldn't see past 4GB even when it was running under XP x64 Edition SP2.

I upgraded to VMware WS 6.5 and now my virtual machines can use over 7GB if I need it. The only issue I had was that my PC would suddenly reboot the first time I ran workstation and player.

If you're looking for an affordable and stable system to run VMware, I suggest reading my upgrade thread here:
http://purefinity.blogspot.com/2009/01/amd-athlon-x2-upgrade.html

I originally bought it more for gaming, but VMware runs great too!

My JB Weld Thread

1. DIY oil restrictor fitting
2. Repaired weeping clutch master cylinder connection (hydraulic)
3. Used to attach a blow off valve to aluminum tubing (pneumatic)

This stuff is really impressive. :-)